Consortium Setup
A consortium is defined as an association of two or more organizations that have come together to jointly fund research projects through external funds and pooled membership fees. Consortia typically focus on an area of research that looks at a general problem that a group of industries maybe facing. The affiliate members do not receive intellectual property (IP) ownership rights in return for their membership fees, but are granted a license to use any IP developed by the consortium
The chart below outlines the steps, the responsible office or person, and the typical time it takes for a Consortium Setup.
| Steps | Responsible Office or Person | Timing |
| Work with the College Research Administrator to develop a business plan or proposal that provides the information listed at the link here |
Principal Investigator (PI) and College Research Administrator |
|
| Submission of the request to the Vice President for Research or his delegate via email and route the application on the Internal transmittal within PeopleSoft for applicable approvals. |
Principal Investigator (PI) |
At least 3 months prior to start date |
| Establish a consortium agreement that spells out the approach, shared rights and obligations under which the entities intend to collaborate | OCG Contracts Officers and Principal Investigator |
At least 3 months prior to start date |
| When the consortium is approved, send out invitation letters, proposals and agreement template to potential members for review and feedback | Principal Investigator | At least 3 months prior to start date |
| Based on the PI’s instructions, send out finalized agreement and annual invoice to selected members for execution and remittance of payment |
Office of Contracts and Grants |
~ 1 month prior to award start date |
| Establish a PeopleSoft award and project cost center for budgeting and spending membership fees on the proposed scope of work | Office of Contracts and Grants | 5-7 days after receiving first membership payment |
Other consideration
Indirect Costs: Expenditures on the consortium project cost centers are subject to Facility and Administrative cost charge, which is currently 20% Total Direct Cost (TDC).
Types of Consortium
There are two (2) types of consortiums. The first is a federally funded consortium which has a main sponsor that is an external agency (e.g. NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Program [I/UCRC] where NSF provides a standard grant to support the consortium in addition to the membership fees or an industry sponsor such as Honeywell). The second type is a consortium that is internally sponsored by the University of Houston where all of its funding comes from the membership fees. This process relates to the 2nd type only!